US House primary races for Baltimore area, Western Maryland on the ballot Tuesday

BALTIMORE — Competitive primary races for congressional seats in the Baltimore region and in Western Maryland are on the ballot Tuesday, with results expected to come in across the state after polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

All eight of Maryland’s U.S. House districts have elections this year for new two-year terms. Five incumbents are running for reelection and were expected to win their party’s primaries Tuesday — Andy Harris, an Eastern Shore Republican; Glenn Ivey, a Democrat representing most of Prince George’s County; Steny Hoyer, representing Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert counties; Kweisi Mfume, representing Baltimore City and parts of Baltimore County; and Jamie Raskin, representing Montgomery County.

A trio of others are not running again — Dutch Ruppersberger, who represents Baltimore County; John Sarbanes, who represents Howard County and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties; and David Trone, who is running for U.S. Senate instead of reelection in the district covering Garrett, Allegany, Frederick, Washington and parts of Montgomery counties.

The three open seats are rare in Maryland as members usually win reelection easily, often for decades. Ruppersberger will have held his seat for 22 years when he retires in January. For Sarbanes, it will be 18 years.

And for both, the primary is expected to be the deciding moment in picking their replacements. Democrats are widely favored in both districts in November — a reality that led to a massive, 22-person field in the Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District.

State Sens. Sarah Elfreth and Clarence Lam, and Dels. Terri Hill, Mike Rogers and Mark Chang are among the highest-profile and most well-funded candidates in that district. Juan Dominguez, an Anne Arundel County businessman who originally launched a U.S. Senate campaign, is also running.

But the entrance of Harry Dunn created another wild card. A former U.S. Capitol Police officer who gained a national profile after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Dunn raised more than $4.6 million — roughly three-times his closest fundraising competitor, Elfreth — and got the backing of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin signaled his support for Elfreth, in her second term representing Anne Arundel County, last week but did not formally endorse her.

A similarly crowded field of 15 Democrats and seven Republicans are vying for their respective party’s nomination in the Western Maryland district Trone is vacating.

The list of Democrats includes Dels. Lesley Lopez and Joe Vogel; April McClain Delaney, who served in the Biden administration; and Tekesha Martinez, the mayor of Hagerstown.

Delaney, whose husband is former U.S. Rep. John Delaney, raised the most money — about $2 million as of late April and then another $825,000 in self-funding in recent days, according to her last campaign finance filing — and won the backing of officials like Pelosi, Raksin and Hoyer.

Republicans running in the district include former delegate and 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox, and former Del. Neil Parrott, who was the Republican nominee for the same seat in 2022 and 2020.

The open seat with the least amount of competition in Tuesday’s primary is Ruppersberger’s, for which Olszewski had started building a campaign even before the incumbent’s announcement to retire.

Ruppersberger endorsed Olszewski in February, handing the two-term county executive the advantage of being backed by an incumbent with deep pockets to represent the district, which covers Baltimore and Carroll counties, and part of Baltimore City.

Olszewski faces Del. Harry Bhandari, who touted his humble background as an American success story; Baltimore City high school arts teacher Sia Kyriakakos; medical assistant Jessica Sjoberg; insurance agent Clint Spellman; and HR specialist Sharron Reed-Burns.

On the Republican side, Kimberly Klacik, Army veteran John Thormann, and Carroll County businessman Dave Wallace are running.

A Middle River radio host, Klacik last ran in the 7th Congressional District in 2020. Though she lost overwhelmingly to Mfume, her campaign raised an eyepopping $7 million after former President Donald Trump promoted her campaign on social media. She has so far not managed to replicate that fundraising feat.

This story will be updated.

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